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The Passion of St. Saba the Goth
Many Goths who professed faith (whether Nicene or not) suffered martyrdom – sometimes at the hands of the pagan Goths, sometimes at the hands of other Christians. St. Saba the Goth was an apparently orthodox (i.e. Nicene) Christian who died at the hands of the pagans. For a variety of reasons, it’s hard to have…
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Review of "The Myth of Persecution" by Dr. Candida Moss
Dr. Candida Moss has provided a popular-level (as distinct from scholarly-level) account of what she calls the “myth of persecution.” Unfortunately, popular-level readers may be misled by the scholarly-style nuances that Dr. Moss uses to make her case. Nevertheless, there are a number of interesting features in her work. The overall purpose of the book…
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Candida Moss and the Truth Value of Martyrdom
In The Myth of Persecution, Dr. Moss repeats the assertion that martyrdom is used as proof of the truth of the martyrs’ views. For example at page 43 she states, “The notion that her innocence is proved by her death is uncomfortable to us, but it is the same idea that we saw with Socrates:…
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Candida Moss’ Surprising Omission of Jesus and Hebrews’ Appeal to Abel
One surprising omission from Dr. Candida Moss’ book, “The Myth of Persecution,” is discussion of Jesus’ own framework for persecution. Jesus, you recall, stated: Matthew 23:29-36Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, “If we had been in the…
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Why Did They Burn the Reformers?
The William Tyndale web site has provided a re-print of an article by J.C. Ryle, on the topic, “Why Were Our Reformers Burned?” (link) There are a number of OCR/transcription errors in the article, but the points it makes are important, and often forgotten. -TurretinFan To God be the Glory!
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Death of a Non-Martyr
There is some very deplorable and evil violence taking place in India. Non-Christians are attacking and killing people and institutions that they believe are Christian. Some time ago I had mentioned that simply being a nun didn’t make one a Christian, and that consequently I would not automatically consider a nun who was apparently killed…
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Remembering the Martyrs
Today, I came across this interesting post by Doug Phillips at Doug’s Blog of a visit to a memorial for the murdered Covenanters, numbering about 18,000. (link) If someone wants to see the sincerity of the Reformed believers in Scotland, this is the place to go. For another post on the same blog regarding a…
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Persecution Update
A martyr in Gaza (link) tortured and killed by those who, if they do not repent, will receive far worse in the life to come. It is a subjectively fearful thing to face torture for Christ, but it is objectively a far more fearful thing to torture someone who is Christ’s. Nevertheless, Saul of Tarsus…
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Martyrdom Follow-Up
Avid readers of the news may recall the kidnap of many, and martyrdom of a few, South Korean professing Christians. This news report (link) suggests that the primary criminal responsible must now come before the Father to answer for the deaths of his children. I would not want to be in his place, and I…